Opponents of Senator Joe Negron’s push to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee, took their fight to the senator’s backyard Monday afternoon.
About two dozen members of Guardians of the Glades lined the road outside Senator Negron’s office in Palm City.
The residents of Pahokee, Belle Glade, and South Bay, fear that Senate Bill 10 would mean the loss of 4,000 jobs in their region.
“We want to make certain that our communities remain whole. We feed the masses around the country and taking 60,000 acres would be a job killer for the Glades community,” said Tammy Jackson with Guardians of the Glades.
The senator held a public meeting earlier this month in Pahokee, where farm owners said they would be unwilling to sell any of their land. The senator is pushing for a reservoir to store freshwater discharges from the lake that could help prevent future algae crises like residents saw last summer.